


It's Dark, And Only Dark

by Moon_Crow



Category: Hetalia: Axis Powers
Genre: Angst, Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Historical Hetalia, Minor Character Death, Other, Past Abuse, Past Violence
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-23
Updated: 2020-05-23
Packaged: 2021-03-03 02:13:35
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,624
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24337198
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Moon_Crow/pseuds/Moon_Crow
Summary: It's the night a few days after the fall of Kalmar; it is the wake of their family's fated fall out. Denmark, finally sobered with the consequences of his actions biting him in the ass, attempts to apologize for every unforgivable thing he's done to Iceland, the child who he has hurt the most.The question is... is there any love left from Iceland that Denmark can salvage?
Relationships: Denmark & Iceland (Hetalia), Denmark/Norway (Hetalia)
Kudos: 22
Collections: Nordipalooza 2020





	It's Dark, And Only Dark

**Author's Note:**

> Horrible summary, to be honest. And to lighten the mood: I wrote this at May 8 and promised to post it on May 9. It is current May 23. This my life and these are my choices.

It has been the longest day for the family.

They have just had to bury their ancient, Mother Scandinavia, whom they lost to a blade in the heat of a battle.

Berwald has finally left the house in an act of rebellion against Danish authority, taking Tino with him, to begin what they know will become the downfall of Northern Europe.

The Swedish War for Independence has begun.

And Emil…

...was just a child.

And Magnus knew that, of course, as his acting father. Sobered by his brother’s departure, Magnus has finally become conscious of just how much Emil has had to put up these past few centuries.

Emil had to watch decades of Magnus getting wasted, high on the euphoria of victory and continental conquest, fighting and torturing someone of his own blood. Emil’s brothers, Ellindur and Nuka, were relatively stronger in will and heart, unlike him, the youngest, broken at the slightest change of wind.

And in one day, he’s had to watch a castle burn, an army dissolve and scatter into corpses, and see the body of the woman who he knew as his beloved grandmother.

And now, it was night, and it was all done and said; Magnus can only wish that he could take it all back.

He walked the halls of his lonely manor, fashioned in bandages, wearing modest clothes because he no longer deserves the beautiful robes he once strutted in. Magnus was thinking, thinking if he was even thinking when he had done all those horrible things that had cost Emil his childhood and family. He didn’t even know what to say as he came closer to the boy’s bedroom door.

Just a few feet away from the door, suddenly it was thrown open. Magnus jolted out of his thinking and looked up, quickly meeting Eli’s tear-filled gaze. They stayed there for a second just staring at each other, and with every ragged breath that left the young boy’s chest was another crack in Magnus’ heart.

“ **_Greenland!_ **” another young, familiar voice cried out from inside the room. 

And Ellindur went running, brushing past his father without so much as a word or a sound.

Out came young Nuka as well, running after his brother without so much as a glance at his brother, “Eli, wait!” The strain of worry and exhaustion was evident in his voice, and the pang in Magnus’ heart was strong. Such a small child shouldn’t have to carry such weight, but here they were.

After that rollercoaster of emotions, thinking he was through with it, Magnus turns back to the hall and sees Lukas, standing there in a lacy nightgown in all his exhausted grace. 

He couldn’t bear his disappointed glare in the battlefield, he couldn’t bear it even now. The acting mother of his own children, having to witness more of this tragedy than he could possibly handle and having to keep the family that Magnus has been destroying for oh so long... he had every right to scream and shout and beat him up whenever he’s in sight. 

But Lukas doesn’t, no; he simply stands there, staring at Magnus with shaking hands and tears filling his eyes.

“Lukas…” Magnus said breathily “I’m sorry.”

Because what else could he say?

Lukas groaned and shook his head, stomping right past him, flinching as their elbows brushed ever so gently. Not a wonder and not another look. Magnus held his breath the entire time, waiting for a punch or a shout, but none came.

Alas, he was now alone, reminded of his primary mission, and feeling more discouraged than ever.

Magnus slowly walked over to the doorway where Lukas and the two kids ran out from, looking inside the grand bedroom that still looked gloomy despite the abundance of gentle candlelight. He sees Emil on the bed by himself, quiet and frozen beneath the covers, a gentle shake in the blankets with his every sob and breath.

Magnus dragged himself forward and onto the opposite side of the bed where his son laid.

Magnus sat there, and Emil didn't look, his back was faced away from him, and he didn’t know which of the many emotions he cried with was directed at him. 

Emil was… _angry_ at Magnus for hurting his beloved big brother, upset because of the amount of family he had lost in the span of a day, frightened of what the future may hold for all of them… or so Magnus can only assume.

Gathering whatever courage he had left in his body, Magnus took a deep breath and looked over at Emil with a small smile. “Hello there, little one.” he greeted, as he had no other way of greeting him

Emil doesn’t move, doesn’t say anything.

“It’s been a long day, hasn’t it?” Magnus sighed, shaking his head “So many things happened in such a short amount of time; I understand if you’re not at your best, _no one is_.”

Magnus cringed internally for a moment, talking about loss so easily. While he himself was accustomed to losing beloved people, Emil didn’t understand that sort of level of familiarity with death.

“I know my apologies won’t do much for anything, but it’s all I can give.” he continued on

Emil shivered as he turned back, staring at him with puffy wet eyes and furrowed brows, a look that made Magnus’ sins stab his spine. “Anko, can you just... _leave me alone!?_ ” he sobbed out dryly, curling his knees closer to his chest and looking away again “You’ve already done enough!”

His voice echoed like it were the same things that were expressed in Ellindur’s soulful eyes and Lukas’ distasteful glare when they had brushed past him in the hall, the same exhaustion could be felt in Nuka’s breath.

And that’s when Magnus’ resolve finally broke.

Tears sprung from his eyes and his chest felt tight with every cold realization that hit him in the face. “I know.” he choked out “I know Emil, _I know_.”

His body began to tremble as he tried to form coherent words equivalent to every dark thought that passed his mind. 

“I know that I’ve done enough and more to hurt you and your brothers, I know that I’ve done so much more than enough to drive away your uncles, I know that I’ve done beyond enough to feed the fire of this continental feud that ruined your life and childhood— _I know!_ ” Magnus cried out while he clutched his chest, tears falling down his flushed cheeks 

“But you know what I _don’t_ know? I don’t know how to make this all better, to you, and to everyone’s I’ve hurt: your brothers, Lukas, Berwald, Tino, my own mother…. I don’t know how I could ever make it up to any of you for the hurt and destruction I’ve caused with my pride and arrogance! _I don’t know!_ ”

Emil listened to all of this, trying not his best to sob out loud, though he flinched as he felt Magnus reaching out and touching his hand that wrapped so protectively on his arm.

“Emil, I can’t take back every horrible thing I’ve done to bring us to this point of suffering,” he whimpered, his breath ragged as he squeezed his hand tightly “But believe me, if I could take it all back and start over, _I would_ , I really would.”

The world stopped for a moment for Magnus as his reality crashed around him.

“But I _can’t_.”

Emil flinched and bit his lip, trying not to succumb to his selfishness.

Magnus just looked at Emil, a beg in his every inhale and exhale as he spoke, “So please, _please_ , tell me how can I fix this.”

Emil had been quiet this entire time, his rage suppressing his want to jump into Anko’s arms and cry.

He couldn’t, he _shouldn’t_.

To do so would be a grand act of betrayal to the grandmother he had lost in the flames of this family feud, his brothers who have suffered in silence for so long, Lukas who has been strained with picking after Magnus’ messes, Tino who was caught up in this great personal war, Berwald who had lost himself and his humanity in his struggle against his brother…. 

If he dared treat Magnus as anything else but the sinner that he is, he was just as at fault as him.

So he said nothing and let Magnus drown in his pool of doubts and anxieties, making him think he was losing Emil entirely, when really, Emil ached to be in the loving arms of what’s left of the family he knows and loves.

After another minute or so, in the silence, as the rubble of their most passionate meltdown settled to its places, they sat. But there was a day after this sorrowful dark night, and Magnus already felt Lukas’ presence looming in the doorway for he had overstayed his welcome.

Magnus sheepishly dried his tears on his collar, and with some hesitance, leaned over Emil and pressed a loving kiss on his forehead.

“I’ll find a way to make this right, I promise you that.” he said “Good-night, little one.”

This was the end of the longest day for their family.

They have just had to bury their ancient, Mother Scandinavia, whom they lost to a blade in the heat of a battle.

Berwald has finally left the house in an act of rebellion against Danish authority, taking Tino with him, to begin what they know will become the downfall of Northern Europe.

The Swedish War for Independence has begun.

And their family was…

...no longer a _whole_ family.

But it’s night now, and tomorrow is another long day

For now, it’s dark, and only dark.


End file.
